Sky and Netflix are becoming one. Sort of. After announcing a partnership in March, the two firms have revealed what this will mean for customers.

Starting from today, it will be possible for Sky subscribers to pre-register their interest to sign-up for access to the series and films on Netflix without having to use another app or streaming device. This means Black Mirror will sit alongside Game of Thrones within Sky's show selector, when the feature is switched on in November. The privilege will cost Sky Q subscribers – the firm's most expensive option – an extra £10. Existing Netflix customers will be able to link their account for free.

For all the cringe-worthy tweeting between the two companies that followed the announcement – featuring Netflix asking Sky whether they are #TeamSteve or #TeamJonathan – the move is one that is likely to be welcomed by Sky customers, who will no longer have to switch between devices to watch either Sky or Netflix. Instead, Sky's electronic program access (EPG) will be redesigned to incorporate Netflix's content.

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From November, Sky's homepage will feature programs from both platforms and the on-demand search service will divide the results between Sky Originals and Netflix. This comes as an extension of Sky’s already existing integration within its EPG of on-demand services such as Spotify and YouTube.

"Sky and Netflix have a lot of mutual customers," says Amber Pine, the commercial director at Sky. "The depth of this integration provides them with a unique experience where they can have the best of both worlds." But who is really benefitting from the partnership?

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With Sky’s customer numbers stagnating in the face of ever-more abundant Netflix viewers, it is easy to assume that this is a case of a major British traditional broadcaster accepting it needs to work with the on-demand TV enemy. In July, communications regulator Ofcom revealed the number of UK subscribers to online streaming services had reached 15.4 million, overtaking for the first time the number of subscribers to traditional broadcast TV, which stalled at 15.1m.

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“On a simplistic level, Sky and Netflix look like direct competitors,” says, Andrew McIntosh, the head of TV analysis at Enders Analysis. "But they act on different levels, which Sky is well aware of. Sky doesn’t offer what Netflix offers. Now it is providing what it can’t offer, but still through the Sky package. And it makes Sky look good, because it is putting the customer first. It’s a very clever move.”

And it's not an unprecedented move. Virgin Media, in 2013, was the first pay TV provider to integrate an on-demand service like Netflix onto its platform – although arguably to a lesser extent than Sky, as content is accessed through the Netflix app and not brewed together with the broadcaster's programs. (Since then smart TVs with streaming platforms built in have become common place).

Overall, Virgin's move was a success: with over 700 million hours of Netflix series and films having been watched through the Virgin app since then, Netflix became Virgin’s fourth biggest channel. The strategy is working so well, in fact, that in June Virgin announced, to its 3.8 million TV customers’ great pleasure, that the partnership would be further strengthened with a single bill for both Virgin and Netflix subscriptions – where viewers used to have to pay separately.

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Is traditional broadcast TV in less of a delicate situation as alarmist reports would have us think? Looking at the numbers, it seems so. While it is evident that online streaming subscriptions are soaring – Netflix subscriptions, for instance, increased by more than 170 per cent between 2014 and 2017 – there is no evidence of sharp downturns in TV pay subscriptions. In 2014, Sky had 9.31m UK household subscribers and at the start of 2018 had 8.83m.

And this has to be further put into perspective: when looking at who exactly is buying Netflix subscriptions, it is notable that the on-demand platform penetrates about 40 per cent of satellite and cable homes, whereas only 28 per cent of homes that do not already have pay TV. Viewers, therefore, are more likely to buy streaming services on top of traditional broadcast packages.

While it may seem that binge-watching Narcos off a laptop or phone is becoming the new norm, attachment to traditional TV is therefore still very much real. Key to that is that pay TV is watched off a TV screen – an experience that remains close to the Brits’ heart. A report by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) this year showed that more than half UK households have a TV at least 40 inches wide. In other words, in the UK the TV is still king.

Last week, YouTube confirmed this by announcing that TV screens, as opposed to phones or computers, are its fastest-growing area, with average numbers of watch time a day growing by 45 per cent every year in Europe.

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“The death of TV is not a thing,” says McIntosh. “There is clear evidence showing that viewing off a TV screen is the most popular way of viewing TV content. For many people, things are heading in the direction of the home cinema experience, with ever larger TV screens and improved sound systems.” Sky’s move towards Netflix may well be the result of a much thought-out bet that viewers will always prefer a TV screen experience – and therefore consistently pick the Sky EPG to watch Netflix programs.

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But things are not so straightforward. Although numbers show a stable base of loyal customers for Sky, there remains an issue that is undeniably looming above pay TV’s head – that of younger audiences. Households may still hold on to their TV sets, but millennials are not. Viewing on traditional TV has dropped by a quarter among 16 to 24-years-olds since 2010, and losing those potential future customers is not an option for broadcasters.

This is why Sky has been astute in sealing the deal with Netflix, which has an appeal to younger customers and is probably the reason that they spend more time streaming off laptops and phones. “Sky is making sure that younger people in the household are becoming as familiar with Sky as older people,” says McIntosh, “by tempting them to use their platform to watch what appeals more to their habits and behaviour.”

Based on Virgin Media’s success, Sky’s effort to address itself to a different audience seems promising. Some may call it a deal with the devil – but in today’s media landscape, relevance has no price. In fact, Sky is also planning on strengthening its partnership with Spotify by implementing a similar single bill process that would be mapped into the Sky subscription. "Sky Q is more than TV entertainment," says Pine, "it is all entertainment." And it is trying it's best to stay ahead of the game.